New Media

Matt McGarry and Kolby Hatch
  • 5.0 (40)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

New Media is a podcast for founders and creators building independent media businesses. We explore how to grow and monetize audiences without depending on algorithms, advertising, and platforms you don't control. Each episode shares practical insights on building profitable media and education businesses.  A GrowLetter podcast, hosted by Matt McGarry and Kolby Hatch. 

  1. 1D AGO

    $100M Course Seller: Info Products Are Dead Forever (Here’s What’s NEXT)

    Ryan Deiss (DigitalMarketer, Scalable.co) joins Matt to talk about why he killed an eight-figure course business, the 80% sales drop that forced the pivot, why AI is replacing courses faster than anyone wants to admit, and how to actually monetize expertise in a post-course world. Timestamps:  00:00 Intro 00:28 Why Ryan "Retired" From DigitalMarketer 03:32 The Real Reason Course Sales Collapsed 06:37 Why AI Beats Courses Every Time 11:54 DigitalMarketer's 80% Revenue Drop 13:05 Why "Course Business" Is the Wrong Frame 16:53 Build Your Own Media First 21:19 The 4 Ways Media Companies Make Money 22:23 Sell AI Trained on Your IP, Not the Course 28:23 Why Coaching On Top of Courses Won't Save You 33:12 The Truth About Cohort-Based Programs 35:14 The 3 Event Business Models 41:36 Sponsorships, Exhibitors & Critical Mass 48:07 Sponsorship Tiers and Protecting the Stage 58:00 Activations, Meetups & Sponsored Experiences 1:02:28 Where to Find Ryan📌 Resources: The Scalable Company DigitalMarketer  🔗 Connect with Ryan Deiss: LinkedInNewsletter

    1h 2m

  2. MAY 7

    The Media Trends Nobody Is Talking About

    Brian Morrissey (The Rebooting) joins Matt and Kolby to talk about his three-archetype theory of modern media, why most TBPN streaming-show clones will fail, the real strategic value of SMS, and why aging out of LinkedIn is a bigger flex than flying private. Timestamps:  00:00 Intro  00:06 The 3 Media Archetypes: Artists, Suits, Engineers  05:54 Streaming Media and MTS vs TBPN  08:00 Why Webinars Punch Above Their Weight  12:37 The Power of Parasocial Podcast Connections  16:09 Is Streaming A Fad? Neo-Traditional Media  20:18 The Underpants Gnome Problem With Clips  24:03 Is SMS The New Email?  26:45 The Hardest Part Is Having The Audience  29:51 Brian's Writing Process (No Audience In Mind)  34:36 Smart SMS Use Cases (Events, Subtext)  40:00 Building A Strategic Reserve Of Phone Numbers  42:59 Why SMS Crushes For Webinar Registrations  49:47 NoScroll And Anonymous X Accounts  53:22 Aging Out Of LinkedIn Is The Real Flex  54:05 Where To Find Brian 📌 Resources Mentioned:  The Rebooting People vs Algorithms (podcast) Monitoring The Situation (MTS) Breaking Points  🔗 Connect with Brian Morrissey: LinkedIn Website & Newsletter  Enjoying the show? Leave a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify, then email matt@growletter.co or kolby@growletter.co with a screenshot and a question — we'll answer it on the show.

    55 min

  3. APR 30

    Inside a Top 10 Spotify Podcast Business, Local Newsletters To Agency Funnel, Will AI Change Email Marketing Forever?

    In today's episode, Ethan Brooks (Austin Business Review), Alyssa Dulin (Kit), and Jonathan Barshop (Modern Wisdom) join Matt and Kolby to discuss how to monetize a local newsletter with services instead of ads, what AI is actually doing to email deliverability, and the unconventional growth tactics that move a podcast in 2026.  Timestamps:  00:00 Intro 03:00 Ethan Brooks on Austin Business Review and Local Media 07:30 Why Local Newsletters Are Best Monetized as Services (Not Ads) 10:40 Selling Austin: $300K From Under 1,000 Readers 13:00 The $25K-in-8-Weeks Concrete Leads Side Business 22:00 Ethan's Two Frameworks: Valuable Audience + Media Monetization 32:00 Alyssa Dulin on AI in the Inbox 35:00 The New Curator in Town — How AI Is Rewriting Deliverability 46:00 The One-Word Reply Tip That Beats Every Other Engagement Tactic 52:00 Google Postmaster Tools: The Most Overlooked Deliverability Tool 1:01:00 Jonathan Barshop on Building a Podcast That Actually Grows in 2026 1:11:00 Why Premise Beats Production 1:18:00 The Cross-Promo That Supercharged My First Million 1:25:00 Engineering "Viral" Moments — The Tim Ferriss + Edward Norton Trick 1:42:00 Modern Wisdom's Tour Model and 12-Partner Sponsorship Strategy 📌 Resources Mentioned:  Austin Business ReviewGoogle Postmaster Tools Modern Wisdom 🔗 Connect with Ethan Brooks:   LinkedIn Newsletter🔗 Connect with Alyssa Dulin:  LinkedIn 🔗 Connect with Jonathan Barshop:  LinkedIn

    1h 50m

  4. APR 27

    Life Update

    Join here: WriteGrowSell.com Enrollment ENDS May 4th at 11:59 pm EST.  This is the last opportunity to join Write, Grow, Sell for the next 5+ months and get in at the lowest price since 2024.

    6 min

  5. APR 23

    This Free Site Makes More Than His $10M Course (w/ Neville Medhora)

    In today's episode, Neville Medhora (Swipefile, Copywriting Course, ex-AppSumo) joins Matt and Kolby to talk about how good copy delivered AppSumo's first $10,000 day, why his flagship Copywriting Course business is being eaten by AI while Swipefile.com is soaring, Neville's content workflow, and why selling software is dead in 2026. Timestamps: 01:19 House of Rave and Dropshipping in High School03:21 Finding Copywriting and AppSumo's First $10K Day05:53 Copywriting Course Dying, Swipefile Soaring11:27 Brand, Style, and Standing Out From AI16:33 How Swipefile's Business Model Works18:44 Why Selling Software Is Dead22:51 The Hybrid Sponsorship Model That Actually Pays26:45 Custom Content and Evergreen Sponsorship Deals33:47 Acquired's $4.8M Pre-Rolls and B2B Ad Math35:57 Why Blogging Is Social Media Now37:15 Neville's Content Flow: Swipefile → Newsletter → Social40:43 Growing a Newsletter in 202645:00 Why Neville Won't Sell Claude Skills (Yet)52:34 Where To Find Neville 📌 Resources Mentioned: The Gary Halbert Letters — https://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com Wait But Why (Tim Urban) — https://waitbutwhy.com 🔗 Connect with Neville Medhora: LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/neville-medhora-654749/ Swipefile — https://swipefile.com YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSN1tlH1nvAXkv9nnBCmfiQ 🍿 Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@growletter

    52 min

  6. APR 16

    He Raised $4M in 4 Hours With One Email

    Walker Deibel (Buy Then Build) joins Matt and Kolby to talk about how he wrote a category-defining book, built a newsletter to 300,000 subscribers, and used that list to raise $4 million in four hours. They cover his grassroots book launch strategy, why he believes newsletters are the most impactful asset any entrepreneur can build, and his framework for navigating private capital markets as what he calls the "new family office." Want to get your first 1,000 newsletter subscribers in 30 days? Go here 👉 https://www.newsletteroperator.com/subscribe Apply To Work With My Agency 👉 https://www.growletter.com Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 03:53 The Shift from Startups to Acquisitions 05:36 How Buy Then Build Changed Entrepreneurship 08:33 Grassroots Marketing and Book Launch Strategy 12:18 Creating a Movement and Defining a New Category 16:15 Frameworks for Exceptional Content 19:14 Writing the Book and Defining Entrepreneurship 22:29 Monetizing the Book and Building Community 29:14 Why In-Person Events Still Matter 35:43 Transitioning from Acquisition Lab to New Ventures 36:59 The Power of Email Lists in Investing 39:33 Building a Private Market Investing Community 43:15 Creating Value Through Direct Investments 46:35 The Economics of Being a Family Office 48:04 Newsletters as the Most Impactful Business Asset 48:59 Where to Find Walker 📌 Resources Mentioned:  Buy Then Build (book) Acquisition Lab Good to Great by Jim Collins 🔗 Connect with Walker Deibel:  LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/walkerdeibel/  Website — https://walkerdeibel.com  Newsletter — https://wealthstack1.com/

    49 min

  7. APR 14

    The Real Reason OpenAI Acquired TBPN for $100M+

    Matt and Kolby break down OpenAI's acquisition of TBPN for over $100 million and what it actually means for media. They dig into why the deal was less about audience size and more about an aqua hire of founders John Coogan and Jordi Hayes, how tech companies consistently use media as a PR and storytelling asset, and what lessons indie creators can take from TBPN's 18-month run to a nine-figure exit. Want to get your first 1,000 newsletter subscribers in 30 days? Go here 👉 https://www.newsletteroperator.com/subscribe Apply To Work With My Agency 👉 https://www.growletter.com Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 05:29 Why the Founders Were the Real Asset 11:03 Editorial Independence Concerns 16:29 The Future of Infotainment in B2B 22:54 Media as a Tech Acquisition Strategy 28:43 Focus on Your Core Thing 📌 Resources Mentioned: TBPN (Tech Business Programming Network)  🍿 Watch on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@growletter

    46 min

  8. APR 9

    How to Build a Creator Business Worth Acquiring

    Taylor Cromwell (Creator Diaries) joins Kolby to talk about what it actually takes to go from creator to founder — and what makes a media business acquisition-ready. They break down the Starter Story and Salary Transparent Street deals, how to eliminate key-face risk, why IRL events are the next big creator play, and the surprising business Taylor's mom accidentally built in Italy. Want to get your first 1,000 newsletter subscribers in 30 days? Go here 👉 https://www.newsletteroperator.com/subscribe Apply To Work With My Agency 👉 https://www.growletter.com Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:00 Creator Diaries and the Creator-to-Founder Gap 03:44 The Starter Story Acquisition — What Creators Can Learn 05:23 Are Big Companies Still Buying Creator Brands? 07:32 How to Make Your Creator Business Acquisition-Ready 09:45 Key Face Risk — How to Build a Brand Beyond Yourself 13:27 IRL Events and Why Every Creator Should Think About Them 18:21 The Business Models Behind Creator Events 24:12 Scaling Pains — What Creators Avoid (But Shouldn't) 31:47 Taylor's Mom Accidentally Built a Business in Italy 37:21 Where to Find Taylor 📌 Resources Mentioned: Starter Story, Salary Transparent Street, StoryArb 🔗 Connect with Taylor: LinkedIn Creator Diaries

    38 min
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5
out of 5
40 Ratings

About

New Media is a podcast for founders and creators building independent media businesses. We explore how to grow and monetize audiences without depending on algorithms, advertising, and platforms you don't control. Each episode shares practical insights on building profitable media and education businesses.  A GrowLetter podcast, hosted by Matt McGarry and Kolby Hatch. 

Information

  • Creator
    Matt McGarry and Kolby Hatch
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    106
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Grow Letter Media, LCC
  • Show Website
    New Media

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